Racing Fans Vote Havre de Grace HOY

Daily Racing Form and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Jan. 13 the results of the 2011 Eclipse Horse of the Year Fan Vote Sweepstakes. The free-to-enter sweepstakes required fans to select the horse they felt deserved to win the 2011 Horse of the Year Award, which will be announced Monday, Jan. 16, in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the 41st annual Eclipse Awards. Fans were also encouraged to cast their votes in 14 other Eclipse Award categories.

In the Horse of the Year category, fans made the multiple grade I winner Havre de Grace their top pick with 4,249 votes. Rapid Redux, who will receive a Special Eclipse Award after going a perfect 19-for-19 in 2011, received 2,213 votes. Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) winner Drosselmeyer checked in third with a vote count of 1,236. The closest race in the voting was in the category of male sprinter, with Caleb's Posse (652 votes) prevailing over Amazombie (640) and non-Eclipse Award finalist Smiling Tiger (566).

More than 12,000 votes were received in balloting conducted between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3 at www.drf.com/eclipse. Fans could also cast their votes in 14 categories other than Horse of the Year, though they were not required to do so.

As part of the sweepstakes, voter Megan Tracy of College Station, Texas, was selected at random as the winner of a trip for two—including airfare, hotel accommodations, ground transportation and event tickets—to the Eclipse Awards ceremony. The prize includes box seats and VIP access for a day of racing at nearby Santa Anita Park.